According to an official release from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), most of the smart city projects will be in an implementation mode, by October 2017 and the remaining by March 2018. Accordingly, the civic body’s chairman, Naresh Kumar, has assured that all smart city projects will be completed before the scheduled deadline of 2020.
Kumar gave this assurance, during a meeting convened on July 15, 2017, by housing and urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, to review the implementation of the NDMC’s Smart City Plan. Stressing that the NDMC has set up solar panels with 3.30 MW of power generation capacity on building roofs, Kumar suggested the ministry to consider allowing it to install solar panels on central government office buildings, either for free or at a nominal charge.
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During the meeting, timelines for various projects under the centre’s Smart City Mission for the NDMC were fixed. Of the Rs 1,800-crore Smart City Plan of the civic body, work on a range of major projects will begin in phases by October 2017, for which tendering is in progress, the release said. These include setting up of a unified command and control centre, multi-level parking at Khan Market, public bike sharing, sewage treatment plants, redesign of 13 roads totaling 31 kms, including seven leading to Connaught Place.
Implementation of other projects will begin by March 2018. These include the India Investment Centre at Yashwant Place, Shivaji Terminal Transport Hub, world-class skill centre at Moti Bagh and the Paryatan Bhawan. The NDMC was also asked to pursue the pedestrianisation of Connaught Place and Khan Market, with appropriate action plans.
